Monday, August 6, 2012

"During the presidential election of 1932 Franklin Roosevelt promised a
New Deal for the American people. Our goal is to describe the changes
wrought by the New Deal. To what extent did the New Deal expand
existing programs? What new programs were created at all levels of
government? How did the Federal government take over programs that had
previously been the responsibility of state and local governments? We
then survey the recent research that examines the impact of the
programs. Finally, why did some programs persist and others fail?"
I also recently read a great chapter by Wallis on state constitutions in the early republic in this book. I'm enjoying the volume very much - every contribution so far has been excellent.

Bartleby likes the flexible federalism that Wallis studies in the early republic, and he's a big fan of the New Deal too. Both would be nice now, Mr. Obama: